Dough cutting machine



Dec. 30, 1952 o. M. CLINTON 2,623,479

DoUGH CUTTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 4, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 HTTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 30, 1952 DOUGH CUTTING MACHINE Otto M. Clinton, Glendale, Calif., assigner to Maurice W. Fortney, Stewart R. Kennard, Jr., and Richard C. Samuelson, all of Glendale,

Calif.

Application November 4, 1949, Serial No. 125,435

7 Claims.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a. machine whereby a multiple number of separate units may be simultaneously cut or struck out of a slab of dough, biscuits, and cookies, for example, ready for baking.

A further object of the invention is to p-rovide a dough cutting machine of said character which automatically in its operation, provides clearance between the struck out dough portion and the unstruck portion, and simultaneously therewith moves the latter portion for place* ment within the cutting range of the machine for continuous repetition in its operating process.

A further object of the invention is to provide a dough cutting machine entirely automatic in action and adjustable as to speed, and whereby a solid slab of dough may be reduced into a multiple number of separate components, each accurate as to size and weight for the production of biscuits and cookies for baking, dumplings for stewing, and doughnuts for boiling as the case may be for example.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a dough cutting machine operative to cut the slab oi dough with a minimum of waste and its cutters and cutting mechanism at all times unclogged with dough so as to continuously process during its operation, a multiple number of evenly and cleanly severed dough units or pieces for futher processing as desired.

And a still further object of the invention is to provide a dough cutting machine exceptionally sanitary in its operation, and which in no manner or way affects the slab of dough other than severing the same into the component units desired.

Other objects and specific advantages of the invention over the existing art will appear from the following description and accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention and embodying the dough stamping or cutting device in one position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevation of the machine similar to Figure 1, but showing the cutter in its cutting position;

Figure 3 is a. plan section of the cutting knives taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is a plan view of a fragmentary length of the conveyer belt with a plurality of out out dough portions and separated from the slab of dough;

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical section of the cutting device taken in the direction indicated by line 5 5 of Fig. 3;

Figure 6 is a plan section on line 6 5 of Fig. 1;

Figure '7 is a plan section on line I-1 of Fig. 1, and

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 1.

Similar letters and numerals of reference throughout the drawings indicate like parts, and `wherein a cutter head H is shown mounted for vertical reciprocal movement upon a pair of posts Ill and II, each pivoted at their lower ends by a pin I2 fixed to a bearing bracket I3 secured to lower rails I4 of the machine frame F.

The rails I4 also support a motor I5 provided to drive belts I6 and II through a gear reduction box I. The belt I6 is carried on pulleys I9 and and turns a dough roller 2l mounted upon a shaft 22 journaled at each end in a bearing supported by member 23 secured to the top of an upper rail 24 of the frame F.

A second dough roller 25 mounted upon a shaft 26 and 'also journaled in bearings supported by member 23 is properly spaced for correct dough thickness above the roller 2I and is turned by friction as dough is rolled between said dough rollers 2l and 25 respectively.

An inclined table 2l attached to the bearings in the support member 23 and supported above the frame F by a brace 2l serves to guide the dough into the rollers 2| and. 25.

A conveyerbelt K is driven at one end by a pulley 28 mounted upon a shaft 2S journaled at both ends in a bearing supported by member 3l] secured to the top of the rails 24. The pulley 28 is driven by the belt I1 carried upon pulleys 3l and 32. l

An idler pulley 33 of the same diameter as pulley 28 is mounted upon a shaft 34 journaled at each end in a bearing supported by member 35 secured to the top of the rail 24. Somewhat smaller idler pulleys 36--36 turn on pins 3'I--3'I carried by bearing brackets 38--38 attached to the rail 24. rIhe pulleys 28 and 33 are respectively positioned adjacent opposite ends of the rails 24 and the conveyor belt K is supported by the pulleys 28, 33 and 36, and is driven by the pulley 28.

Upright frame members 39--39 and cross angles 40-42 support a table 4I underlying that portion of the belt K disposed between the pulleys 28 and 33.

Power from a motor 42 supported by the rails I4 is transmitted through a gear reduction box 43, pulleys 44 and l45, and a belt 46 to a shaft 4l journaled in a bearing bracket 4B secured upon the rail 24.

A cam 49 mounted upon the shaft 4'I is in continuous engagement with a roller 5t carried by a bearing 5| secured by bolts 52 to the post IS.

A pin xed in one side of the earn it supports a roller Si: positioned to intermittently engage a fiat spring E5 having one end nXed to an angle bracket 55 secured to the rails il@ by rivets 5l; the other end of said spring overlies and engages the end of an upright valve stein 58 or a valve 5d secured to the raiis 25. by an angle bracket tt.

The valve is provided with an air inlet line 5|, an air outlet line E2, and an exhaust pipe A packing gland Sri is provided in the valve 5S about the stem 53.

Compressed air is supplied to the inlet line El from a source pipe E5 through an cleaner' Gd, an oiler El and a fitting iii? all supported upon the rails I t by a bracket te.

An air regulator lil is also connected to the fitting t3 whereby compressed air is supplied through hose connections 'ii and i2 and a hose 'i3 to a piston valve lll. The latter is attached by bolts 'i5 to the upper head 'i5 of a cylinder l?, One side of the valve it is connected by a tting 'it and a hose to the air outlet line 52. The other side thereof is connected by a fitting 353 and a hose Si to an air ou let line of a valve 83 attached to the rails 25E. The valve t3 is like the valve 53. 1t has a valve stern t and a packing gland wherein the valve stern is sldably mounted. A pin 85 is slidably mounted in a 'racket t5 secured to post Sil and urged forwardly by compression spring- S to engage and displace the valve stein inwardly as post It moves forwardly to its vertical position shown in l.

The valve 323 is also connected by an air inlet line S6 to the tting 5B and has an exhaust pipe E3.'

The cylinder l? contains a piston 89 having a ring til. One end or" a piston rod Sli is connected to said piston 73 by a nut il, a lock-washer e3 and a sealing-washer 94.

A lower head 95 is provided for the cylinder 'il having a depending annular iiange :l engaging an annular groove Eil in the top of a cross bar 93 provided to support the cylinder il. A gasket @t is disposed about the piston rod 9i between the head and the bar 93. The latter is supported at its eine by angle plates and Il attached respectively to upper ends of the posts it and |i, by bolts iii?.

Long bolts |93 secure the cylinder l? and its heads it and to the cross bar SS.

The lower end o the piston rod i is attached by a pin angle plates it and bolts |Ei to the top of a cutter head or bar itl.

HeXagonal cutting or forming knives |653 are attached as by welding t0 the undeside of the bar lill in an interlocking double row as shown in Figure 3.

A thin :flexible sheet of rubber ii' il neath the knives it with its ends i pair or" rollers Hi having their en `s bearings E52 attached by bolts lit t and adjacent the ends or the bar itl'.

The rollers iii are each provided depends be- Eil iixed to a i ounted in o the top of with a knob il@ at one end having spaced hole 55 provided on their periphery to receive the ends oi a locking rod HG.

A piston E il oi the valves and 83 is normally urged to the exhaust position as seen in Figure 7, by a spring I i8.

The valve is is provided with a bore H containing a dual headed piston itil. The bore iii is closed at its end by threaded plugs 12| which are internally threaded to receive the fittings la and Sil.

The base of the valve lf2 is machined out to `for a cavity E22. A sliding gate var/e |23 is positioned to reciprocate said cavity rEhe valve its is provided an upstand yoke and is cut out on its bot-torn side to provide an air lilfl communicating at all tirnes with an exhaust i 535 provided in the head i6,

The piston |2i, is reduced in diameter at 52S' to provide shoulders for engaging the yoke 23.

in Figure 5 the passage i253 also communicates with an air passage 25 formed in the head '56. A tube I connects said passage i243 with an air pasii iorrned in. the lower head Q5.

A spring |23 disposed between an angle |25 secured to table el' by bolts and the post lo urges the latter toward the earn 9.

The bases of the bearings 52 are notched at r the posts i@ and ii the ends of the i are notched at 35 an plates |32 are athed to the ends of the bar dl by bolts 33 to vide guideways for the posts and i, n operating the machine, a slab of dough D of approximately correct thickness is manually fed iroin the table into the space between the rollers Sii and 25 which roll. the slab into the correct thickness and feed it down an inclined shelf i3d onto the conveyor belt K. The moveinent or the latter' and the cam are synchronised so that a continuous rlow of cut dough portions D" are rnoved by the bei'J K towards the roller 33.

The belt 2 moves toward the right and the cam turns clockwise in l.

The cutter head is shown in Fig. l as being held at the top of its upwaru stroke bythe pressure of air beneath the piston Bil. This is so because the pressure of the 8i is for ing the pin dit against the valve stem EEE-v and thereby opening the valve 83 to establish communication between line t3 and line The actuation of the valve S3 will be understood by reference to Fig. 3, which illustrates valve S which is or" a construction similar to The valve in Fig. 8 is at the other end of its travel to that described above for valve In the above description the pin Sli has pushed the valve inwardly so that toe valve covers the exhaust port 33 establishes communication between the air inlet line S8 and the air hose 3|.

When air from the nti-ing Se moves the piston ii tothe left (Fig. 5) the valve M3 will also move to the left to ermit air in cylinder il to be eX- hausted through the port i253', the passage 24 and the exhaust port ld. At the same time communication is established between fitting l? and passage since the vaive |23 in moving to the left uncovers 1125 when it spans i255. Air will be itted from the tting into the passage |28, tube T, to the underside oi' the piston 8% and thereby raise the latter together with the cutter H. rEhe latter is held in said upward position as long as the roller :Sil engages the cam lig -veen the points B C of cam 4d. Meanwhile the uncut dough slab D is moving toward the right.

When the point C reaches the roller t, `the latte will start to piove rapidiv toward the axis of 5 valve 59, the line 62, the hose 19, and the fitting I3 to move the piston |20 to the right (see Fig. 5).

The valve |23 will also move to the right permitting air from underneath the cylinder to exhaust through tube T, passageway |26, cavity |24, and the exhaust port |25. When the valve |23 has spanned the exhaust port |25 and passageway |26, communication is established between 12 and port |23 to permit air from the tting 12 to enter the cylinder Ti thereby forcing the piston 89 and the cutter head H downward into cutting position.

As the diameter of the cam 49 increases rapidly from the point A to the point C, the posts I@ and Il are caused to move quickly to the right, and this, even while the dought slab is being out because the roller Eli will continue to depress the spring 55. This movement of the posts I and to the right is slightly faster than the movement of the belt K to the right. This causes the newly cut dough portion D to be slid rapidly along the belt K and away from the uncut slab of dough D for about one-eight (1/8) of an inch just prior to the moment when the point B of the cam 49 causes the valve 83 to be opened and the cutter head H to be raised.

The rapid sliding movement of the cutter head H prevents any buckling of the slab of dough D behind said cutter head.

When the piston 89 is forced downward as in Fig. 5, air will be exhausted from beneath said piston 89 through the passage |21, the tube T,

the passage |25, the passage |24 and the exhaust port |25.

As will be observed from Fig. 1, at the top of the stroke of piston 89, the rubber sheet hangs loosely in a loop without tension from the rollers the degree of sag being adjusted by the knobs H5.. As the cutter head |01 descends, the rubber sheet is first laid on top of the slab of dough I? so as to be i'lat on the dough over the portion into which the knives will penetrate and also over the adjacent portions of the dough on both sides of said dough portion. As the blades penetrate into the dough, the dough is forced into the die cavity between the blades |08 and the rubber folds about the knives |03 and is stretched by the dough inside the cavity. The dough conforms to the die cavity. However, the belt section, outside the die in the line of the travel of the dough, is not stretched and loosely contacts the adjacent dough, both cut and uncut on both sides or" the cutter head., as shown in Fig. 5. As the cutter head is retracted by the upward movement of piston 89, the tension in the rubber inside the die cavity between the cutter blades is released and the rubber diaphragm acts as a stripper or parting membrane to prevent sticking of the cut` dough portions D' to said knives.

Figure 5 shows the completion of the cut with the post Il in the vertical position and at the point where the head H is immediately lifted by air pressure under the piston 89 and another cycle of operation thereupon begins.

When the rubber sheet H39 becomes worn under the knives |08, the rod H6 is removed and the rollers I I are turned by the knobs i 4 to present a new rubber surface beneath the knives.

Waste or trimmings of dough is reduced to a mere string S on each side of the belt K. Adjacent the string of dough, in alternate rows of the hexagons of dough D', are positioned half hexagon dough sections.

One of the characteristics of the machine is that it practically leaves no trim or so-called waste in its cutting operations, as aforesaid, and thereby substantially eliminates the reforming into slab form of a large quantity of dough trimmings, more or less common to all other dough cutting machines. That this is highly advantageous is indisputable, since it is a known fact that re-run dough trimmings and especially such as is prepared with shortening, is ailected to a -deiinite extent in the re-rolling process results in a lowered quality eatable product.

Machines in common use for a like purpose incorporate roller dies. These machines in their operation create an extensive amount of dough trim, in some instances as high as sixty per cent (60%) of the total rolled batch. This percentage of dough in its re-roll for further use no longer possesses the identical texture it originally possessed, and thus results in a materially lowered quality product.

In use, my invention creates but an insigniiicant quantity of dough trim, less than one per cent (1%) of the total batch. It is conned almost wholly to a narrow ribbon of dough on the outer edges of the slab.

The uniquely designed cutters and their coacting cutting operation produce twelve (l2) individually cut units with each cutting stroke, and regardless of the consistency of the dough, all such units being cleanly cut or severed from one another and from the dough slab. This results from the construction of the hexagonal cutter formed of a honeycomb configuration of nested adjacent hexagonal die cavities formed by nested hexagonal cutting die blades, as shown in Figs.

3 and 5. Moreover, neither the cutters nor the conveying belt can become dough clogged or besmirched. This is of extreme importance in pro duction and a material advance in the art in that it eliminates both lost time resulting from con- `stant delays in cleaning the cutters, and uneven ragged edged products, inherent to clogged cutters and dough besmirched belt conveyer means. Both are more or less commonly experienced with the dough cutting machines in common use.

The machine may readily be manufactured equipped with cutters of varying sizes and from materials readily obtainable in the open market. y As numerous apparently different embodiments and changes in structure may from time to time suggest themselves without departing, however, from the scope thereof as herein shown and described, it is intended that the description and drawings submitted shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Hence, I do not limit my invention to the herein dis'- closure, but what I do claim is:

l. In a dough cutting machine, a frame, an endless belt operating on the frame for moving `a slab of dough in one direction, an upright support pivoted on the frame for movement .in the direction of the length of the belt and being ex` tended above the belt, a cutter head mounted on said support above the belt for movement toward and away from the belt, cutting blades on said head for cutting a transverse portion of the i stroke of said head, means for continuously moving the belt to move the slab of dough beneath the cutter head, means operating to move the cutter head into and out of a position for cutting-portions ofthe slab or doughfinto pieces, and means operating when the dough pieces'become severed from the slab for moving the support and cutter head thereon in the direction of travel of said belt at a greater rate than the rate of movement of the belt whereby the cut pieces are moved relative to the belt away from the uncut portion of the slab before the head is moved out of its cutting position,

2. In a dough cutting machine, a frame, an endless belt operating on the frame for moving a slab of dough in one direction, an upright support pivoted on the frame for movement in the direction of the length of the belt and being extended above the belt, a cutter head mounted on said support above the belt for movement toward and away from the belt, cutting blades on said head for cutting a transverse portion of the slab into a plurality of rows of separate pieces, means for continuously moving the belt to move the slab of dough beneath the cutter head, means operating to move the cutter head into and out of a position for cutting portions of the slab into pieces, and means operating when the dough pieces become severed from the slab for moving the support and cutter head thereon in the direction of travel of said belt at a greater rate than the rate of movement o1 the belt whereby the cut pieces are moved relative to the belt away from the uncut portion of the slab before the head is moved out of its cutting position.

3. In a dough cutting machine, a frame, an endless belt operating on the frame for moving a slab of dough in one direction, an upright support pivoted on the frame for movement in the direction of the length oi the belt andbeing extended above the belt, a cutter head mounted on said support above the belt for movement toward and away from the belt, cutting blades on said head for cutting a transverse portion of the slab into a plurality of rows of separate pieces', means for continuously moving the belt to move the slab of dough beneath the cutter head, means operating to move the cutter head into said dough for cutting portions of the slab into pieces, means operating when the dough pieces become severed from the slab for moving the support and cutter head thereon in the direction of travel of said belt at a greater rate than therate of movement of the belt whereby the out pieces are moved relative to the belt away from the uncut portion ofthe slab before the head is moved out of its cutting position, means for retracting said cutting head, and means for thereafter moving said support and cutter head in a direction opposite to said direction of travel of said belt to move said cutting head into dough cutting position.

4. In a dough cutting machine a cutting head, means for moving said cutting head into and out of cutting position, a support for an elongated slab of dough arranged beneath said head, means for advancing said support to move said dough under said cutting head, a plurality of cutting blades arranged in a row on said head to cut a portion of the slab extending thereacross into a plurality of pieces, and a ilexible apron carried by said head depending loosely in a loop beneath the blades, the length of said loop being suiiicient so that it will fold around the blades when the latter are forced through said slab ofdough to cut the same into; pieces and-lay loosely on the dough outside said cutting head and adjacent said cutting knives in the line of advance of said dough.

5. In a dough cutting machine a cutting head, means for moving said cutting head into and out of cutting position, a support for an elongated slab of dough arranged beneath said head, means for advancing said support to move said dough under said cutting head, a plurality of cutting blades arranged in a row on said head to cut a portion of the slab extending thereacross into a plurality of pieces, a flexible apron carried by said head and depending beneath the blades so that it will fold around the blades when the latter are forced through said slab of dough to cut the same into pieces, rollers on said head on each side of said cutter, said apron being wound on both rollers, and means for independently rotating each roller, whereby the apron may be wound from one roller onto the other roller and the degree of slackness of said ilexible sheet adjusted.

6. In a dough cutting machine a cutting head, means for moving said cutting head into and out of cutting position, a support for an elongated slab of dough arranged beneath said head, means A for advancing said support to advance said dough under said cutting head, a plurality of adjacent and nested hexagonal cutting die cavities formed by hexagonal cutting blades arranged in a honeycomb row on said head to out a portion of the slab extending thereacross into a plurality of pieces, a flexible apron carried by said head depending loosely in a loop beneath the blades, the length of the loop being suicient so that it will fold around the blades when the latter are forced through said slab of dough to out the same into pieces, and lay loosely on the dough outside said cutting head and adjacent said cutting knives in the line of advance of said dough.

7. A dough cutting machine comprising means for advancing a slab of dough, a cutting head reoiprocally mounted in dough cutting position over said dough advancing means, said cutter comprising a plurality of adjacent hexagonal cavities, hexagonal dough cutting blades separating said cavities and nested in a honeycomb structure, a pair of rollers mounted for reciprocation with said cutting head, means for independently rotating said rollers, a ilexible apron wound on said rollers, whereby it may be rolled from one roller to the other and hang in a loop of desired slackness beneath said cutting head by rotating each of said rollers.

OTTO M. CLIN TON REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,831,826 Sergent Nov. 17, 1931 2,288,908 Kretchman July 7, 1942 2,294,020 Breth et al Aug. 25, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 283 Great Britain Nov. 9, i889 

